Crypto market close, Oct. 16: Bitcoin edges down 0.8% to $81,499
Bitcoin ended the UTC day at $81,499 after a $80,767–$82,794 range; 10 of the 50 largest crypto assets rose and 35 fell. Movers, whale flows, stablecoins and sentiment inside.
Key points
- Bitcoin closed at $81,499 (−0.8%) after a $80,767–$82,794 range.
- ZEC was the top-30 standout at −5.9%; 10 of the top 50 rose, 35 fell.
- Whale tracker: 1,149 large transfers; exchange deposits $3.3B vs withdrawals $2.4B.
Bitcoin closed the UTC day on October 16, 2026 at $81,499, down 0.8% from its $82,137 open, after trading in a $80,767–$82,794 range. Ether ended at $2,420 (−0.8%). The total crypto market capitalization stood at $2.71T (−0.8% over 24 hours), with Bitcoin's share at 60.2%.
Breadth was negative: of the 50 largest assets we track (excluding stablecoins and wrapped tokens), 10 rose and 35 fell, and the median move was −1.1%. The standout among the top 30 was Zcash (ZEC), −5.9% to $1,150.
Majors at the close
| Asset | Close | Day | 7 days | Day range |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bitcoin (BTC) | $81,499 | −0.8% | −1.9% | $80,767–$82,794 |
| Ethereum (ETH) | $2,420 | −0.8% | −3.4% | $2,394–$2,489 |
| Binance Coin (BNB) | $720.84 | −1.1% | −2.9% | $718.08–$735.05 |
| XRP (XRP) | $1.31 | −1.8% | −6.4% | $1.29–$1.35 |
| Solana (SOL) | $104.32 | −0.9% | −6.1% | $102.51–$107.01 |
| TRON (TRX) | $0.3350 | +0.8% | +0.6% | $0.3322–$0.3358 |
| Hyperliquid (HYPE) | $80.24 | −1.9% | −6.9% | $78.44–$82.38 |
| Zcash (ZEC) | $1,150 | −5.9% | −7.0% | $1,134–$1,244 |
| Dogecoin (DOGE) | $0.0808 | −0.1% | −4.9% | $0.0794–$0.0827 |
| Monero (XMR) | $557.15 | +1.6% | +3.6% | $544.57–$570.83 |
Biggest movers in the top 50
Up: Polkadot +3.3% · JUST +3.3% · Worldcoin +1.9% · Monero +1.6% · Cosmos +1.2%
Down: Venice Token −7.4% · Zcash −5.9% · Injective Protocol −3.9% · NEAR Protocol −3.7% · Ondo −3.2%
Beyond the top 50 (assets above $50 million in market value, rolling 24 hours): Alaya Governance Token (AGT) led gains at +63.9%; Starknet (STRK) fell the most, −15.4%.
Sentiment
The Crypto Fear & Greed Index read 63 (Greed), unchanged a day earlier. Basis Desk's own news-flow gauge counted 11 bullish, 6 bearish and 19 neutral items among 36 published during the day.
Stablecoins
Stablecoin supply totaled $306.2B, down $367.5M over 24 hours. Largest: USDT $183.4B, USDC $72.8B, USDS $7.0B.
Whale flows
Basis Desk's on-chain scanner logged 1,075 transfers of $5 million or more on Ethereum (ETH and major tokens) and 74 Bitcoin transfers of 100 BTC or more, excluding change outputs and wallet consolidations. Deposits to labeled exchange wallets totaled $3.3B, against $2.4B withdrawn — net deposits, which can precede selling, though custody reshuffles look the same on-chain.
- $213.3M in USDT (213,600,000 USDT) from an unlabeled wallet to Bitfinex
- $150.3M in USDT (150,499,997 USDT) from an unlabeled wallet to Binance
- $113.2M in USDT (113,301,419 USDT) from an unlabeled wallet to Binance
Live feed: whale transfers.
Network fees
Ethereum gas was 0.20 gwei (standard); Bitcoin fees for next-half-hour confirmation were 1 sat/vB at the close.
The day's top stories
- Circle Discloses USDC Economics, Paying $819M to Distribution Partners in H1 2026
- Visa, Stripe, and OKX Expand Enterprise Stablecoin Infrastructure Around Open USD
- Strive Files to Offer 5 Million Shares of 15% SATS Preferred Stock to Buy Bitcoin
- Coldcard Firmware Vulnerability Leads to $116M Bitcoin Self-Custody Theft
- a16z Crypto Unveils Aerie to Accelerate Post-Quantum Signature Aggregation
How this report is made
This report is generated automatically from Basis Desk's market snapshots, with no AI-written text. Closing prices and day ranges come from our own 5-minute price history between 00:00 and 24:00 UTC (prices via Coinbase, Kraken and DefiLlama); 7-day changes, market values and the wider market from Coinlore; Fear & Greed from alternative.me; stablecoin supply from DefiLlama; fees from Ethereum mainnet and Blockstream; whale transfers from Basis Desk's own on-chain scanner. Previous close: Oct. 15. Not financial advice.
Data sources
- [1] Coinbase Exchange market data — Coinbase
- [2] Kraken public market data — Kraken
- [3] DefiLlama prices and stablecoins — DefiLlama
- [4] Coinlore crypto market API — Coinlore
- [5] Crypto Fear & Greed Index — alternative.me
- [6] Basis Desk whale transfer tracker — Basis Desk
Automated data report generated from Basis Desk's own market snapshots and on-chain scanner — no AI-written text. Figures are as of the 00:00 UTC close; providers are listed above. Market figures marked "at the time of writing" come from live exchange data. Report an error: corrections@basisdesk.news · corrections policy.
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